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This is a great department where students can have experiences that will enrich their lives and prepare them for the future. Our programs provide the exciting opportunity to study individual development, family relationships and consumer issues as they affect each other, and to learn how to improve the quality of life for individuals and families in many settings. Our mission is to provide high quality undergraduate and graduate instruction to help students develop greater personal understanding and prepare for successful professional careers. For those who are exploring the professional options provided in this major, we are available to answer your questions and to help you make an informed decision.

Family Social Science is a multidisciplinary department committed to the generation and application of knowledge that enhances family functioning and well-being in diverse family settings. Scholarship is organized around four themes: Families and Diversity, Families and Economic Well-Being, Families and Mental Health, Families Across the Life Span, and Parent and Family Education. Research, teaching and outreach activities encompass a wide range of social, economic, and political issues that affect families locally, nationally, globally.

The Family Science and Human Development Department provides students with a greater understanding of multiple ways of knowing families and children in various contexts. It enables students to critically analyze the literature and to keep abreast of trends in research. The faculty creates a learning environment that supports and encourages the development of forward thinking practitioners and educators who work with families and children in a variety of settings. The department of Family and Child Studies examines multiple ways of knowing families and individuals over the life course in various socio-cultural contexts. Power, diversity, and social justice are analyzed through an interdisciplinary and critical approach.

The School of Family Life has over 1,000 undergraduate majors, either pursing a degree in Family Life or Family and Consumer Science Education. Degrees in Family Life are offered with an emphasis in either Human Development or Family Studies. The School has COAMFTE-accredited masters and doctoral programs in MFT. Masters and doctoral degree graduate programs are also available in Marriage, Family, and Human Development. In addition, the School administers the university-wide Gerontology Program. Besides offering high quality learning experiences for students, faculty are actively engaged in research on family and human development-related research.

Our mission is to foster an interdisciplinary scholarly environment that enables early childhood professionals, family service providers, and researchers in the field of family and child study to: cultivate and disseminate systematic information and grounded knowledge about the diverse nature of families in contemporary societies; and understand and critically respond to the dynamic complexities of human development across the lifespan foster leadership in addressing the multiple facets of early childhood development.

The Department offers comprehensive programs that cover all aspects of families throughout the life cycle: infancy, childhood, adolescence, emerging adulthood, midlife, and aging. The goal of the department is to provide an educational experience that promotes the integration of knowledge and professional practice from the fields of human development and family science. Primary objectives are to prepare researchers and scholars to generate knowledge about individual and family development and behavior over the life span, as well as educate professionals who will provide educational, counseling, and advocacy services needed for children and families to function more effectively. The department includes a marriage and family therapy clinic, a child development lab, and an extensive outreach program along with a considerable portfolio of funded research. This scientist-practitioner model reflects the goals of The University of Georgia, a flagship, Research I, land-grant institution integrating research and its application to enhance the quality of life for all citizens.

The Department of Human Development and Family Studies (HDFS), in the School of Health and Human Sciences at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, is committed to excellence in teaching, research, and service regarding human development and close relationships across the lifespan. Our objectives are to educate the next generation of HDFS professionals and scholars, to generate new knowledge, and to foster the well-being of individuals and families in their everyday lives.

As a premier HDFS department, we focus on the following areas: early care and education; child, youth, and family development; aging. Undergraduates can prepare for birth through kindergarten teacher licensure (as can our MEd graduate students) or focus on children's and adolescents' development in their diverse cultural, school, and family contexts. M.S. and doctoral students examine the biological, relational, early educational, social, and cultural foundations of development and their implications for families. The emphasis on "culture" includes not only different societies, but also within-society cultural groups, such as racial/ethnic and social class groups. We are committed to interdisciplinary study, diversity, and internationalization. Department Mission: The Department of Human Development and Family Studies seeks to enhance the quality of life for individuals across the lifespan within their diverse and changing relationships, families, social networks, and communities in varying contexts through (1) exceptional research and scholarship, (2) outstanding teaching and mentoring to prepare the next generation of professionals, and (3) active community engagement and intervention.

The family relations and human development graduate program is committed to the study, generation and application of research on human development, and the influences of family dynamics on development across the life course. Students are expected to undertake a program of study that develops a broad and sophisticated understanding of normal and dysfunctional development and/or family functioning. The aim is to prepare scholars and professionals with a perspective that is not only multidisciplinary but that also integrates theory, research, and the application of knowledge for the enhancement of individual or family development. The faculty represents a variety of academic backgrounds and professional expertise encompassing human development, sociology, psychology, early childhood education, family relations, gerontology, social work, and couple and family therapy.

HDFS is a leader in applied interdisciplinary scholarship focused on reducing risk and enhancing resilience within individuals and among families across cultures and generations. The distinguishing feature of HDFS is the interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary integration of instruction, research and application between and among human development, family science, early childhood education, gerontology, and marriage and family therapy. Because integrative approaches are necessarily broad, the department's focus is on the many ways resilience may be discovered, developed, mastered, and maintained across human processes and contexts.

Human Development and Family Sciences is committed to ensuring the optimal development, health, and well-being of individuals and families across the life course. Our transformational research, excellence in instruction, and active community engagement make us leaders in the advancement and application of scientific knowledge toward innovative solutions to the pressing challenges that confront communities, families, and individuals today. HDFS is situated in an accredited College of Publics Health and Human Services which provides a rich context for research and learning about health and well-being.

The Department of Child and Family Studies prepares students at the undergraduate and graduate levels to become competent professionals and effective family members. Our primary areas of emphasis focus on children, youth, families, and early learning in diverse contexts. A central foundation for our programs is the idea that scientific inquiry provides the most effective means to improve the welfare of children, youth, and families.A notable feature of both our undergraduate and graduate programs is the opportunity for outreach and engagement experiences in area communities. Students complete intensive semester-long experiences in a wide range of community placements including mental health, medical facilities, public and private schools, and intervention programs. Students also have the opportunity to join a research team of faculty and students.

We are a general sociology department with a concentrations "Urban Inequality" and in "Family and Health." Most of our faculty's research and teaching interests concern issues connected to these two areas. The department houses the Kunz Center for Social Research, a research center for faculty as well as a training facility for graduate students. All students also receive a well-rounded general education in the field of sociology.

The Department of Applied Health Science is a vital part of IU's life sciences initiative. Our department is committed to fostering interdisciplinary research in the life sciences as we work toward our mission of preventing disease and promoting health and well-being of individuals, families, and communities. Our department is making a difference in the health and well-being of Indiana, the nation, and the world through the research, teaching, and service conducted by our dedicated faculty, staff, and students.

The School of Family Studies and Human Services (FSHS) offers diversity of academic programs, scholarship, and outreach that address the health and well-being of individuals and families in Kansas, the country, and the world. The complexity of the School is reflected in the wide range of careers in human services pursued by graduates such as work with families, early childhood education, marriage and family therapy, personal financial planning, and speech-language pathology. Students follow career paths that take them all over the world and into numerous types of opportunities.

Purdue University's Department of Human Development and Family Studies (HDFS) is widely regarded as a leader in the study of children and families. The department contributes to the well being of individuals and families across the life course by generating knowledge; preparing graduates for research, teaching, leadership, and professional practice; and by strengthening the interconnections of research, practice, and policy. The Department offers academic programs at the undergraduate and graduate levels. Faculty conduct important research on a range of critical issues facing individuals and families in today's society. Through innovative outreach efforts, the department extends knowledge to policymakers, employers, professionals, and citizens in Indiana and beyond.

The Auburn University Department of Human Development and Family Studies is an interdisciplinary program committed to advancing and applying knowledge about individuals and families in a changing world. The Department operates the Center for Children, Youth, and Families that includes the Auburn University Early Learning Center and the Harris Early Learning Center of Birmingham, both accredited by the National Association for the Education of Young Children, and the Marriage and Family Therapy Center. The objective of these centers is to enhance the instruction/service learning, research, and outreach missions of the Department. Further, The Alabama Cooperative Extension System provides the infrastructure to enable the researchers and practitioners affiliated with the Department and its Centers to disseminate knowledge to the citizens of Alabama, the nation, and the world.

The primary emphases of the department are human development and family processes within the context of larger sociocultural systems. The distinguishing feature of HDFS is this contextual focus. Individual lifespan development is viewed as transpiring within a web of close relationships/family relationships, and family systems are seen as both context for individual and interpersonal behaviors and as units nested in larger sociocultural environments. Our unique niche is a commitment to family diversity and a multicultural perspective in research, teaching, and service. In each of these areas, we focus on the diversity that characterizes human development within the family context. Because we define family diversity and multiculturalism broadly, our focus is on the multitude of ways that individuals within families may differ, including, but not limited to, race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, age, family structure, nationality, geographic location, and sexual orientation.

The Department of Human Development and Family Studies offers undergraduate majors in Early Childhood Education, with a certification from birth to second grade and in human services, with concentrations in clinical services, administration and family policy, Community Education, and Family and Consumer Sciences Education. These curricula prepare students for careers with diverse individuals and families throughout the lifespan. The department also offers two graduate programs: a Masters in human development and family studies, and a Ph.D. in human development and family studies. All HDFS programs are interdisciplinary and emphasize risk and resilience, multi-cultural issues, disabilities and prevention and intervention. The graduate programs in Human Development and Family Studies focus on early childhood education, adolescent development and nonprofit management and leadership. The Ph.D. program is designed to develop researchers who will teach at the university level, will work in child and family policy positions, and will administer large scale programs supporting children and families.

The Department of Human Development and Family Science engages in research, teaching, outreach, and the preparation of scholars and professionals to enhance the lives of individuals and families. We focus on the nature and process of human development over the life span, the dynamics of couple and family relationships, conditions in the family, community, and society that enhance, support, and impede individual development and family well-being, early child development/education/day care, dysfunctional family systems/family therapy and family life education. The program houses a Couple and Family Therapy Clinic, with 4 therapy rooms, 4 observation rooms, and 3 AAMFT approved supervisors.

HDFS provides outstanding undergraduate, masters, and doctoral level education in family studies and human development across the life span. Among the top programs of its kind, HDFS offers an interdisciplinary approach to family relationships, child and adolescent development, early childhood education, adult development and aging, as well as child and family intervention, prevention, and policy studies. The program is served by a faculty of thirteen, four of whom hold integrated appointments with UW-Extension. All of the faculty are professionally active with strong records of national and international scholarship. Faculty conduct basic research to understand families and their members and applied research and outreach to enhance individual and family life.

The Department of Human Development and Family Sciences (HDFS) explores the psychological, social, and biopsychosocial processes that lead individuals and families to a spectrum of outcomes, from productivity, health, and well-being at one end to illness, dysfunction, and distress at the other. HDFS at UT-Austin is a dynamic program that is among the nation's best interdisciplinary departments. Our faculty are award-winning teachers, leaders in prestigious scientific societies, recipients of national and international awards for outstanding research accomplishments and distinguished careers, and recipients of major grants from the National Science Foundation, National Institutes of Health, and numerous private foundations. Our senior faculty are among the elite researchers in the discipline, and our junior faculty are some of the field's brightest up and coming stars.

Through an integration of the root disciplines involved in lifespan human development, the Department of Family Sciences facilitates the development of learning and competencies in students who will enhance the quality of individuals' and families' lives in a diverse global society. The Family Sciences faculty empowers students to be proactive and systemic in approach.

Human Ecology is an interdisciplinary department that offers a holistic systems approach to examine the interrelationships that individuals and families have with social, economic, and political factors and conditions. This student-centered, research intensive department offers a BSc in Human Ecology with a major in Family Ecology (minors in Aging, Child and Youth Studies, Community Diversity, Community Ecology, Community Nutrition, International Development), MSc in Aging, MSc in Family Ecology and Practice, and a PhD in Human Ecology (with streams in Aging and Children, Youth and Families). Undergraduate and graduate programs focus on individuals and families across the life course, and on the development and evaluation of policy and programs to enhance individual and family well-being. Research programs focus on understanding the physical, economic, and social aspects of aging with a focus on aging well, and on enhancing the health and well-being of children, youth, and families across the life course with an emphasis on vulnerable groups.